{"id":916,"date":"2026-02-02T12:21:59","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T17:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/?p=916"},"modified":"2026-02-03T12:52:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T17:52:44","slug":"horror-for-the-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/horror-for-the-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Horror for the Win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Excerpt from the Foreword of \u201cFrightopia: Creature Feature\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First, congratulations to all of the writers who submitted wonderfully spooky Halloween stories and poems to the third edition of Frightopia. We are thrilled to have been able to include 133 pieces out of the hundreds that made us think, smile, imagine, gasp, wince, and, sometimes even\u2026 shake. Every single piece included is extraordinary!<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-white-background-color has-white-color\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\" style=\"flex-basis:25%\">\n<p>Aditi Jenkins, 16<br>Adriana Gonzalez, 13<br>Advika A, 15<br>Aelynn Maynard, 16<br>Alexander Feirman, 11<br>Alexandra Boryshansky, 9<br>Alma Metlitsky, 15<br>Amara Gilman, 11<br>Amelie Wronska, 12<br>Amira Tevatia, 10<br>Anna Baranchuck, 10<br>Ariana Ansari, 10<br>Arianna Leistner, 10<br>Ariel Berg, 10<br>Arjun Adusumilli, 9<br>Arthur Dafre Martinelli, 11<br>Asher Decter, 11<br>Ashley Cen Lin, 17<br>Aurora Rodriguez, 9<br>Ava Grunberg, 16<br>Ava Joseph, 10<br>Aven Koester, 6<br>Aviv Fagan, 16<br>Bode LaFrance, 7<br>Boyana Dyankova, 10<br>Calla Yoon, 11<br>Caroline Klets, 17<br>Caroline Paradiso, 9<br>Catherine Tanyeri, 10<br>Cecilia Linsey, 10<br>Charlotte Tracer, 8<br>Chloe Chalmeton, 10<br>Chloe Chu, 14<br>Chloe Lv, 8<br>Chloe-Rose Kaduru, 8<br>Cici Cohen, 10<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\" style=\"flex-basis:22.5%\">\n<p>Clara Gervaise, 9<br>Connor Sorenson, 13<br>Cora Getz, 11<br>Cristine Dynu, 14<br>Crosby King, 11<br>Dallas Wilson, 17<br>Daniel Friedland, 17<br>Danny MacNamara, 11<br>Delaney Griffin, 14<br>Edy Myers, 16<br>Eleanor Griffin, 11<br>Emi Kim, 10<br>Emilia Cortese, 11<br>Emily Bennett, 7<br>Ethan Boies, 8<br>Ethan Li, 11<br>Evelyn Chao, 12<br>Frida Shpigelmacher, 11<br>George Bellin, 11<br>Griffin Sands, 10<br>Hannah Dailey, 12<br>Henry Lomma, 15<br>Innis Martin-Isani, 11<br>Isabela Manolescu, 13<br>Isabella Torres Nazario, 10<br>Izzy Schur, 11<br>Janiyah Smith, 9<br>Joanna Leigh Berman, 10<br>John Yu, 12<br>Jojo Kenigsberg, 9<br>Jui Karande, 14<br>Juliana Norinsberg, 13<br>Juliette Marvar, 9<br>Kaia Braverman, 11<br>Kamila Urazova, 7<br>Kate Rothman, 13<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\" style=\"flex-basis:22.5%\">\n<p>Kit Beeson, 16<br>Kriti Jain, 14<br>Lanai Huron, 9<br>Leo Edelson, 8<br>Lila Ashworth, 11<br>Logan Freiman, 11<br>Lola Jarrett, 9<br>Luci Villanueva, 13<br>Maddy Cho, 11<br>Madeline Chu, 17<br>Madison Bennett, 9<br>Mahi Raut, 14<br>Ma\u00efa Segard Gardikli, 12<br>Maila Huron, 12<br>Margaret Jackman, 13<br>Maribelle Ganelis, 11<br>Marissa Munger, 15<br>Marlo Beckett, 11<br>Mason Kwon, 8<br>Max Rufino, 8<br>Mayla Chen, 12<br>Mila Sheng, 11<br>Mina Weiss, 9<br>Molly Nepomnyashchiy, 9<br>Monica Karaguzhinova, 14<br>Naomi Katz-Moss, 10<br>Naomi Oliver, 11<br>Natalie Ruan, 10<br>Ned Colangelo, 12<br>Neil Shah, 11<br>Nicholas Kirshner, 10<br>Nicole Juarez, 11<br>Nikhil Sharma, 8<br>Niki Mohseni, 15<br>Nina Hipkins, 9<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column\" style=\"flex-basis:30%\">\n<p>Olivia Woerner, 14<br>Oona Nalavala, 9<br>Parker Koester, 9<br>Penelope Staley, 11<br>Penny Gerhart, 10<br>Peyton Schleef, 15<br>Phoebe Burger, 12<br>Phoebe Cabana, 9<br>Poppy LaFrance, 9<br>Preston Moszer, 12<br>Priyanka Song, 11<br>Quinn Koester, 11<br>Raania Awan, 15<br>Riyansh Garyali, 11<br>Rylin Rybakov, 10<br>Samuel Mestel, 9<br>Samuel Nieves, 8<br>Scarlet Artz, 17<br>Sebastian Gonzalez, 11<br>Shaw Swiller, 10<br>Shikha Shah, 11<br>Sofia Fraioli, 15<br>Sonali Browning, 16<br>Sophie Jackson, 12<br>Soraiya Ash, 10<br>Tarini Mishra, 10<br>Thalia Bryan, 11<br>Theo Kern, 12<br>Theo Scoblic, 14<br>Tsejin Teo, 8<br>Tunip Adkins, 15<br>William Fry, 14<br>Wyatt Thacker, 8<br>Zachary Feirman, 8<br>Zahra Khan, 16<br>Zoe Yarbrough, 12<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-white-background-color has-white-color\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, one to three writers per age group were selected with First Place awards. Please join me in congratulating this year\u2019s First Place in Grade:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Ages 5-7: Bode LaFrance and Kamila Urazova<\/li><li>Ages 8-10: Ethan Boies, Clara Gervaise, and Mina Weiss<\/li><li>Ages 11-13: Arthur Dafre Martinelli, Logan Freiman, Adriana Gonzalez, and Zoe Yarbrough<\/li><li>Age 14-18: Advika A, Kriti Jain, Edy Myers, and Theo Scoblic<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This exciting book is filled with Halloween-inspired fright. Some stories are scarier than others. At Writopia, stories with gore or combat are not rare. In fact, sometimes, after a child explores a particularly dark fictional topic in a workshop, a parent or guardian reaches out to us, worried. \u201cIs my child normal?\u201d As a mom of two teen writers, I completely get it. It is exhilarating to experience our children\u2019s creations, but it can also be triggering at times, no matter what the story explores, let alone horror and gore<br><br>So let me start first with a big yes: your child isn\u2019t only 100% normal but, according to evolutionary psychologist, Jonathan Gottschall, very advanced on the evolutionary scale!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Gottschall puts it, \u201cFiction is a powerful and ancient virtual reality technology that simulates the big dilemmas of human life.\u201d He adds that the typical plotlines of children\u2019s playtime\u2014from Barbies to superheroes\u2014feature rambunctious and violent conflict and struggle. Therein lies the essential value of fiction, he argues. \u201cThe constant firing of our neurons in response to fictional stimuli strengthens and refines the neural pathways that lead to skillful navigation of life\u2019s problems. From this point of view, we are attracted to fiction not because of an evolutionary glitch, but because fiction is, on the whole, good for us. This is because human life, especially social life, is intensely complicated and the stakes are high. Fiction allows our brains to practice reacting to the kinds of challenges that are, and always were, most crucial to our success as a species\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, as writers, we help ourselves, and all of humanity around us, process fears, decompress, and prepare for life\u2019s challenges often without even knowing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In that spirit, once per year, we lean into the scariest writing of all: Halloween stories. We invite our writers and readers alike to enjoy the creep and jump scares, and to let those neural pathways catapult you through an inspiring, creative, playful, and productive 2026!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B0GJLYKC4S\">purchase your own copy<\/a> to inspire you and yours to contribute to the 4th edition in 2027!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Rebecca Wallace-Segall<br><\/em>Founder &amp; CEO, Writopia Lab<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this article:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-916\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/horror-for-the-win\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-916\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/horror-for-the-win\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pocket\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-pocket sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/horror-for-the-win\/?share=pocket\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pocket\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-reddit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-reddit sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/horror-for-the-win\/?share=reddit\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Reddit\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/horror-for-the-win\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to print (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Excerpt from the Foreword of \u201cFrightopia: Creature Feature\u201d First, congratulations to all of the writers who submitted wonderfully spooky Halloween stories and poems to the third edition of Frightopia. We are thrilled to have been able to include 133 pieces out of the hundreds that made us think, smile, imagine, gasp, wince, and, sometimes even\u2026 &hellip;<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this article:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-916\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/horror-for-the-win\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-916\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/horror-for-the-win\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-pocket\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-pocket sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/horror-for-the-win\/?share=pocket\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Pocket\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-reddit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-reddit sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/horror-for-the-win\/?share=reddit\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Reddit\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/horror-for-the-win\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to print (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9aRpX-eM","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":590,"url":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/frightopia-book-launch-and-reading-event\/","url_meta":{"origin":916,"position":0},"title":"\"Frightopia\" Book Launch and Reading Event","date":"February 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Written by Tasnim Hussain, Program Manager at Writopia Lab On February 11th, 2025, Writopia Publishing Lab celebrated the launch of Frightopia: The Second Edition with a celebratory reading for all 72 contributors. 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And more, I had the opportunity to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Staff Voices&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/PatchLargeWhite.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":495,"url":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/writopia-publishing-lab-contributors-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":916,"position":2},"title":"Writopia Publishing Lab Contributors 2023-2024","date":"May 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Congratulations to all Writopia writers selected for publication this past school year in this year's Writopia Publishing Lab's books. Connecting Across Cultures: A Collection of Writing by Ten Jewish and Muslim American Teens Zoe BeckerDania BresslerLeila CisseMahnaz Daud-BasraiHeba ElkouraichiZara HaiIlana HorwitzLeonid MetlitskyMillie NathansonAnniyah Rizvi \"Loved Your Essay!\" - The Admissions\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Newsletter&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":522,"url":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/2024-news-and-announcements\/","url_meta":{"origin":916,"position":3},"title":"2024 News and Announcements","date":"June 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to the 2024 Annual Newsletter. First, congratulations to the thousands of Writopia writers, from young and teen writers to instructors and full-time staff, who set out and completed the writing of original pieces this year! A few hundred members of our community also bravely submitted writing to the 2024\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Newsletter&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/ci3.googleusercontent.com\/meips\/ADKq_NZ3VroDW_KpUnEb9UUf4p0N44AYJ3WTZX_DYj1cq1krSEn7PgvLPj9FJCbvXUz7vzK55z2nxa2bKfowDq3VKyB4ljmTXddUtDOgn5zuOP_a1FtR7AOx-x5AiYhbKOckifDJz5KuRjIH6soaNG1A0fttjVYiD9e0piKy=s0-d-e1-ft#https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/4bbae34d2f35a71d5195e09a7\/images\/f92c7246-dcc1-15ca-e123-7d9fe3276a3f.jpeg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=916"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":927,"href":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916\/revisions\/927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}